Poet Corgan smashes image

September 19, 2003|By Joshua Klein, Special to the Tribune.

It's the rare rock star who is called a poet. But it really takes a certain type of rock star to apply that lofty mantle to himself.

And if there was any lingering doubt that Billy Corgan was that type of rock star, it was dispelled Wednesday night at the Art Institute's packed Rubloff Auditorium, where a poster proclaimed Corgan "singer, musician, songwriter, poet." Corgan's appearance was benefiting the Poetry Center of Chicago, so even if his verse stiffed, the $35 ticket price was going to a good cause. Still, few people on hand seemed to be interested in poetry, per se. Corgan's fans, who supposedly flew in from as far away as Norway and Japan, mostly wanted to see what the ex-Smashing Pumpkin and now ex-Zwan leader was going to do next.

Corgan emerged with a sheaf of paper in one hand and a microphone in the other. With no greeting, he proceeded to read through poems with titles like "In the Wake of Poseidon" and "The Poetry of Oblivion." Corgan sounded surprisingly nervous and he rushed his delivery, casting off each page as he paced around the stage. The mostly respectable poems were often filled with references to mythology, natural imagery and the occasional oblique confession, though they lacked much in stylistic cohesion.

But poetry was just a part of Corgan's presentation. Corgan's next step was to duck behind a triangular screen, pick up a guitar, and sing two Eastern-flavored songs while images flickered on the walls. Corgan courageously followed the music with more poems, this time recited cross-legged on a rug piled while a candle flickered nearby. He then donned an army helmet affixed with several flashlights, eliciting some (hopefully intentional) laughs.